Manic Cyber Monday expected, as e-tailers lure shoppers

A significantly higher number of U.S. shoppers will buy products online during
the so-called Cyber Monday than they did last year during this first work day
after the Thanksgiving holiday weekend.

About 72 million people will shop online from home and work today, as Cyber
Monday solidifies its position as the online equivalent of Black Friday, the
day after Thanksgiving that is a big sales event in physical retail stores nationwide.

Last year, a little more than 60 million U.S. residents shopped online during
Cyber Monday, according to a survey by Shop.org, the e-commerce arm of the National
Retail Federation retailers' trade group in Washington, D.C. BIGresearch, which
conducted the survey, polled almost 2,400 consumers from Nov. 22 to Nov. 24
this year.

Shoppers will find more discounts and special deals than they did last year,
since 72.2 percent of online retailers plan to have special promotions, compared
with 42.7 percent in 2005's Cyber Monday, according to another survey by Shop.org
and comparison shopping site Shopzilla.com. That survey, conducted by BizRate
Research, polled 116 online retailers between Sept. 26 and Oct. 8.

In fact, Wal-Mart Stores announced Monday that it will feature online specials
at Walmart.com not only
on Monday, but through Friday, tripling the number of online specials compared
with last year's Cyber Monday week.

Another Shop.org survey found that a lot of the online shopping Monday will
take place from offices, as employees with Internet access make purchases while
at work. Almost 55 percent of office workers with Internet access will shop
online during Cyber Monday this year, compared with almost 51 percent last year,
according to the survey, which was conducted by BIGresearch and polled almost
8,000 consumers between Oct. 31 and Nov. 7.

People interested in learning about deals and promotions can visit Shop.org's
CyberMonday Web site,
which has information from over 550 retailers.